Find a Therapist - Behavior Disorder

In order to find a therapist that will be able to help with a behavior disorder, you must understand what a therapist does and the different types of therapist available for behavior disorders. Only then will you find a therapist that will provide the best therapy for your situation.

What Is a Therapist?

The first part of seeking a therapist involves knowing what you are looking for. A therapist simply means someone who provides a therapy, and there are many different kinds of therapists offering many different kinds of therapy, ranging from physical therapy to occupational therapy to speech therapy to psychotherapy to cognitive behavior therapy.

Types of Therapist for Behavioral Disorders

Since both adults and children can have behavioral disorders, there are some types of therapy that may be more appropriate and or more effective for people of different ages, and this is something to consider when starting the search for a therapist. If you want to know more, here is some information about different types of therapy that are used to treat behavior disorders:

For children, play therapy has been found by studies to be effective in treating Conduct Disorder (CD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), leading to decreases in aggression and increases in appropriate expression of feelings.
For families, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has also been used for ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been across a wide age range of people dealing with behavior disorders.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been found effective with people having serious behavior disorders that CBT was not well-suited to.
Psychotherapy or other interpersonal therapy can be part of treating behavior disorders.
Particularly if it is anticipated that medication will form part of the therapeutic approach, a psychiatrist may be engaged as part of a therapeutic team to treat behavior disorders.

Find a Therapist

Perhaps your primary care physician or another health care worker has made a recommendation, but if not, a referral from a known and trusted health-care worker is a good place to start. Other people who might provide a referral for you are a school nurse or guidance counselor or a member of the clergy, like a priest or minister or rabbi or imam.

You can also look on professional websites that represent a particular kind of therapy or through which therapists are accredited. In this case, you would be starting from a particular type of therapy and seeking to find a qualified practitioner in your area.

Another way to look is to start a search for therapists in your area. You can do this with a phone book or an Internet search. Your insurance company will also have a list of therapists that accept its coverage. It's important to check this because some therapists do not accept insurance, which means you have to pay out-of-pocket.

If you do search like this, be sure to check out accreditations of any therapist before entrusting yourself to his or her care. Remember that a psychiatrist is a medical doctor, whereas other types of therapist, while they may be trained and licenses, are not. Your home state's secretary of state website will have information about professional licensing that may help you understand who needs what kind of license.

Sources

http://www.a4pt.org/ps.playtherapy.cfm?ID=1161